If an infinitive in French ends in -er, it means the verb belongs to the first conjugation, for example, donner, aimer, parler.

To know which form of the verb to use in French, you need to work out what the stem of the verb is and then add the correct ending. The stem of-er verbs in the present tense is formed by taking the infinitive and chopping off -er.

Infinitive

Stem (without -er)

donner (to give)

donn-

aimer (to like, to love)

aim-

parler (to speak, to talk)

parl-

Now you know how to find the stem of a verb, you can add the correct ending. Which one you choose will depend on whether you are referring to je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles.